Chronicles of Duncan MacLeod

In the year 2000 I began sitting down with my maternal grandfather, Duncan MacLeod, listening to stories about his life, and about other MacLeod relatives. I had been interested in my family history for several years, but had spent most of those years digging into my father’s side of the family. Now I was ready to take on the MacLeods.

In researching this part of my family I have, of course, followed the paper trail: birth, marriage and death records; censuses; military records; newspaper clippings; and all sorts of other documents. Some of what I’ve found over the years, either myself or with the help of other researchers, has contradicted information my grandfather gave me, while other discoveries have confirmed what he told me, and added to it. Either way, Papa’s stories — and the relationship we shared in the last decade of his life — remain my most treasured resource.

I began posting bits of my MacLeod family history here in my blog in 2009, beginning with my MacLeods’ origins on Skye and the nearby isle of Eigg, and leading into stories about my grandfather. Papa’s stories are the backbone of this series of posts, and its heart and soul.